Open for Business: Video for a job campaign

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The “Elevator Speech” is moving to YouTube.  In the big city, where elevators are prevalent, your audience may be captive for 30 sec – 2 minutes.  If you can pitch your business idea, or the value proposition in their hiring you in 30 seconds, you may get the chance to explain further.  Not enough elevators in Morristown?  Produce a 30-sec video instead.

Elevator Pitch tutorial

Videos do not have to be highly sophisticated according to media expert Michael Davy.  A home video camera, even a webcam will suffice as long as it’s a short, cogent story presented well.  “A one minute pitch is 180 words,” says Michael.

Companies are decreasing their use of  newspaper ads or job boards like Monster and Career Builder.  Instead, they are moving towards social media outlets or LinkedIn postings.  Increasingly though, they are scanning the web and LinkedIn to identify candidates of interest and contacting them directly.  Video rises to the top of most internet searches, helping a candidate to raise their visibility to interested employers.

Producing a static video also helps to prepare for an interview by video.   Skype usage has become so commonplace that businesses are using the tool for long distance communication including initial conversations about jobs.

There’s a difference in opinion among job seekers about the use of any advanced media or marketing.

One thing everyone agrees on is don’t make the mistake of Aleksey Vayner, former Yale student and job applicant whose swaggering statements in a video resume made him an Internet meme.  The video did not make him an employed person.

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